Hypertext Almanac

All posts filed under “history”

Ballet and space were considered to be showcases of the Soviet Union. In modern Russia ballet is rarely mentioned but space news regularly make the headlines. Russia and China are negotiating joint projects of Mars and Venus exploration, as Russian Federal Space Agency official declared last year. Not sure if space official is aware, but the USSR had similar plans in early 1960s. Read More

Most people have never heard of him during his lifetime. Before his death he was often referred to only as The Chief Designer, because the Soviet leadership feared that the United States would send agents to assassinate him. Engineer and spacecraft designer Sergei Korolev quietly developed the revolutionary rocket technology that we still use today. He is considered by many as the father of practical astronautics. Read More

Comparative population in various countries. From left to right: China, Great Britain with colonies, Russia, United States, Germany, Japan, Austro-Hungary, Great Britain and France.

Published in 1912, the Nicholas Rubakins book «Russia in Figures» contains wonderful examples of vintage infographics.

Comparative strength of different faiths in Russia. Orthodox, Old Believers, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, other Christians, Jews, Islam, Buddhists, and the remaining

Comparative strength of the peoples living in Russia. Russians (with the Ukrainians and Belarusians); Turks and Tatars; Poles; Finnish tribes; Jews; Lithuanians; Germans; Caucasians and Georgians; Highlanders; Armenians; and other

The professional composition of the Russian population. The relative strength of professions.

> You should [subscribe to our RSS feed](http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Metkerecomen) and [follow me on Twitter](http://twitter.com/metkere).

Yuri Gagrin, the first man in space, would have been celebrating his 75th birthday on March 9.

Gagarin was the first to make a manned space flight on board the Vostok spaceship on April 12, 1961. The flight around the Earth took 108 minutes, after which he safely landed in the Saratov Region. He [died in an air crash](http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13658296&PageNum=0) in the Vladimir Region during a training flight on board a Mig-15 fighter plane together with Colonel Vladimir Seryogin on March 27, 1968.